At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument is needed.

Monday, July 20, 2015

"By now it's pretty clear who hates the agreement"

The opening sentence was good enough to steal for a post title. And here's one of them: the representative from the great state of Israel, Bibi.

"There are many things to be done to stop Iran's
aggression and this deal is not one of them," he said on CBS.

Don't believe he mentioned any, but continued sanctions and/or heavy use of bombs comes to mind as probables.

But what he's been light on is offering realistic
alternatives.

I just told you. CSM brings up what I have been continually wondering about.

Even if Israeli pressure can convince enough members of
Congress to not only vote against the deal, but provide a veto-proof two-thirds
majority, that would leave Israel and the US alone on the issue. The other
major parties to the agreement - China, Russia, Germany, France, and the UK -
are not only united in support for the deal but are unlikely to come on board
for a new sanctions regime as tough if it falls through.

I believe there are 190 countries on the face of the planet, excepting the US and Iran. What happens if a fair number of them decide they don't care about the wishes of our right wing nuts in Congress? Are we going to sanction all of them for trading with Iran?

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli who teaches at the
Interdisciplinary Center in Heziliya, has doubts about the agreement, but also
sees positives.

"The leaders of Israel have every right to voice their
concerns over the current deal. Even the opposition is concerned about it. But
the deal’s restrictions on Iran mean that the breakout time needed to make a
nuclear weapon has been pushed back to a year. Without the deal it would be two
to three month.”

Or take
Uzi Even, an Iranian nuclear physicist who worked at the country's Dimona
reactor. "The deal was written by nuclear experts and blocks every path I
know to the bomb. The Iranians may be celebrating, but they have in fact
swallowed a very bitter pill, more so than they would like to let on," he
writes. " In simple terms, a violation of the deal will lead to new
sanctions on Iran, hence my confusion regarding the staunch resistance inspired
by this deal, especially among non-radical elements in Israeli politics."